Download The End of Europe`s Middle Ages

The End of Europe's Middle Ages
Economy
During the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, Europe enjoyed an economic
and agricultural boom. A slight warming
of the climate and improved agricultural
techniques allowed lands that had
previously been marginal or even
infertile to become fully productive. In
the late twelfth and early thirteenth
centuries, however, the climate once
again began to cool and agricultural
innovations could not maintain the
productivity of frontier lands that again
became marginal or were abandoned
entirely. The decreased agricultural
output could no longer support the same level of economic activity and, as early as the
middle of the thirteenth century, the economy was beginning to weaken. By early in the
fourteenth century and continuing well into that century, a declining population, shrinking
markets, a decrease in arable land and a general mood of pessimism were evidence of
deteriorating economic conditions. This trend was far from universal and it was certainly
less severe in northern Italy. Also, north of the Alps, some communities quickly rebounded
and thrived on their commercial and manufacturing ventures. Coventry, England, for
example, flourished with its woolen cloth industry while Bruges, in modern-day Belgium,
was one of the major commercial centres of the North. In the early fourteenth century,
Florence's textile industry and banking catapulted the city-state into the forefront of
European enterprise and, eventually, into the Italian Renaissance. Significant private
international banking and commercial ventures provided the foundation for many fortunes
but even they succumbed to the recession that began in the fourteenth century.
The first half of the fourteenth century saw Europe burdened by overpopulation and the
agricultural enterprises of northern Europe had reached the limits of their productivity. A
lowered standard of living for the peasantry resulted from the ongoing subdivision of their
land holdings or expansion into marginally productive areas. Poor weather in the early
1300's created meagre harvests and mass starvation was the result in some areas,
eliminating as much as 15 percent of the population. Warfare had been virtually continuous
and pauses in major international conflicts, such as the Hundred Years' War, were replaced
with local confrontations.
The expansion of long-distance trade and commerce seen in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries also began to dwindle at the end of the Middle Ages although some trade links,
especially those in the Mediterranean and in northern Europe, had become sufficiently well
established to resist shrinking markets. Trade continued across the Mediterranean from
Venice, Florence and Genoa. Italian trade diasporas also existed in the Byzantine Empire
as well as dotting North Africa and the Middle East. In northern Europe, the Hanseatic
League dominated trade around the Baltic and North Seas from the late fourteenth century.
Innovations in commercial accounting also continued to develop and double-entry
bookkeeping spread from Genoa in the early fourteenth century. While the arrival of the
Black Death through ports and major trade centres tended to restrict commercial contacts,
trade links were not entirely severed.
The first sweep of the Black Death struck in 1347-1349, eliminating between one-third and
one-half of Europe's population. Economic and social institutions were crippled by the
severe depopulation. The immense loss of life cut across all levels of society and had a
profound emotional effect on the survivors as outbreaks continued well into the
seventeenth century.
The devastation wrought by the Black Death on the people of Europe created a severe
shortage of labour. Where land had previously been overworked in order to support large
populations, there was now an abundance of land for the survivors. The peasant and
working classes were no longer populous and were able to demand higher wages.
Landlords, faced with the prospect of crops rotting in the fields or idle machinery, had no
choice but to pay the increased prices. Caught between rising production costs and falling
grain prices, many landlords rented out their lands and, as more serfs became tenant
farmers, manorialism came to an end.
In the cities of Europe, urban populations tended to recover more quickly from the plague
than rural communities. This led to large migrations into cities after plague outbreaks but
many of these immigrants remained unemployed. The gap between the rich and the poor
widened as the elite closed ranks to protect their holdings and positions. Close-knit and
exclusive guilds were organized by occupation to regulate workers and eliminate outside
competition.
Attempts by the nobility and mercantile elite to legislate the wages and services of the
peasantry and to protect their market monopolies led to violent revolts that were often
ruthlessly suppressed. The French Jacquerie of 1358 was followed by the Florentine
Ciompi Revolt in 1378 and the English Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Similar popular uprisings
occurred in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Still, the ruling classes managed to
maintain their power. Slowly, the economy began to recover from the devastations of the
late 1300's and early 1400's, and by 1500, the economic crisis had passed, setting the stage
for the flourishing of the Renaissance.
New Monarchies
Introduction
As the Middle Ages progressed in Europe, feudalism created layers of conflicting laws,
customs and traditions. Numerous feudal courts were established under dukes and earls
whose interests were often contrary to those of the monarch, threatening royal authority. In
an effort to rectify this situation, the monarchs of England, France, Spain, and Portugal
took steps to re-establish their authority over the aristocracy and the clergy. They did this
by centralising governmental offices and placing officials throughout the kingdom to
represent royal interests. As they moved to secure autonomy within their own kingdoms,
they also sought to solidify national boundaries. Those monarchies that experienced a
move towards greater control by the king through a centralised government are known as
the 'New Monarchies'. Despite the similarity of outcome, England, France, Spain, and
Portugal each followed slightly different routes and the trend towards centralisation
suffered a temporary setback between the early fourteenth and mid-fifteenth century. Wars,
internal dissension, riots, famine, and plague disrupted governmental processes and it was
not until the end of the fifteenth century that the royal houses of England, France, Spain,
and Portugal were able to re-establish control.
England
Although England's island location defined its geographic boundaries, attempts were made
to retain English territories on the Continent. These attempts met with limited success and
virtually all Continental holdings were lost during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)
with France. These losses would ultimately benefit the English since England could now
focus on its home front without overextending its resources.
England's relative geographical isolation also allowed its political structures to evolve
virtually unhampered by external powers, making it possible for civil and legal institutions
to be standardised throughout the country. Regional interests were limited by officials who
represented the Crown. However, the English king did not rule absolutely. Most laws and
tax levies required parliamentary approval to pass.
During the fourteenth century, the English Parliament became a permanent institution that
was split into two parts, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. While the House
of Lords was composed of the great prelates and magnates, the Commons was made up of
representatives of townspeople and petty knights. Although the Commons made significant
gains during the Hundred Years' War when fiscal support was traded for political
concessions from the monarchy, the Commons had not yet become an independent voice.
Royal and aristocratic interests remained at the forefront during the late Middle Ages.
Longstanding territorial disputes between England and France erupted in the early
fourteenth century when the last Capetian king of France died without male issue in 1328.
Edward III of England (1312-1377) claimed the French crown through his mother, the
daughter of Philip IV the Fair (1268-1314). The French were appalled at the idea of an
English monarch and raised Philip of Valois (1293-1350), the son of Philip the Fair's
younger brother, to the throne as Philip VI. Edward III initially accepted Philip VI as king
of France but simmering hostilities between the two nations led him to revive his claim in
1337 and initiate the Hundred Years' War.
The English initially enjoyed success in their military ventures, winning decisive victories
at Crécy in 1346 and at Poitiers in 1356. When Edward III died in 1377, his successor,
Richard II (1367-1400) ignored the war on the Continent and focussed on reducing the
power of the English aristocracy. This attack against their authority alarmed the English
nobility and, with the sanction of Parliament, Richard II was deposed in 1399. Parliament
elected Henry IV (1367-1413) as king but troubles in England occupied him for most of
his reign. This incident demonstrates the power and limitations of Parliament during the
late Middle Ages. Even though the Houses merely confirmed the wishes of the magnates,
these great lords appreciated the importance of receiving parliamentary approval for their
actions.
Hostilities with France resumed in 1415 under Henry V
(1387-1422) who won a significant victory at Agincourt
in the same year. His alliance in 1416 with Sigismund,
the Holy Roman emperor, split the French defences and
Henry V continued to win French lands. In 1420, a peace
treaty with Charles VI of France was concluded at
Troyes. Henry V returned to France in 1421 to suppress a
French rebellion but he became ill and died at Vincennes
in 1422, leaving an infant son as heir. The death of
Henry V marked a turning point in the Hundred Years'
War and, by 1453, England no longer held any
Continental lands except Calais.
The Hundred Years' War had barely ended when a series of
dynastic wars split England. The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485)
were fought between the rival houses of Lancaster and York, each
claiming the English crown. Neither side was able to gain longterm ascendancy until, in 1485, the Yorkist claim ended when
Richard III (1452-1485) was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
The Lancastrian leader, Henry Tudor (1457-1509), ascended to the
throne as Henry VII. His marriage to Elizabeth, the daughter of the
Yorkist king, Edward IV (1442-1483), united the warring houses
and established the Tudor dynasty that would provide the rulers to
lead England into the next century.
France
Across the Channel, the French monarch had greater difficulty moving towards a
centralised government than the English monarch. Unlike England, France was composed
of many independent states with deeply entrenched laws and customs. Consequently, most
French people turned to their local lords for leadership instead of the king. Through a
policy that used inheritance, marriage, and war, the French crown finally achieved
territorial sovereignty.
While the process of achieving territorial sovereignty was taking place, the French
monarch also had to contend with the problem of jurisdictional sovereignty. This was a
contentious issue for the aristocracy, and cities jealously guarded the rights and honours
they had won over time from the Crown. The monarch's attempt to reclaim former
jurisdictions, such as legal rights, was met with distrust and suspicion. The Crown
ingeniously solved the problem by following a strategy of the Roman Empire: the Crown
allowed the regional powers to maintain their local customs and institutions but it placed
royal officials in the important offices of each state, thereby ensuring loyalty to the crown
and effective monarchical control.
Philip IV the Fair (1268-1314) initiated France's foray into
constitutional government. In his struggle with the papacy over
the right to tax the clergy, Philip IV summoned the first Estates
General in 1301. Composed of representatives of the clergy, the
nobility, and townspeople, the Estates General were intended
only to provide support for royal initiatives and never achieved
the same level of independent authority as the English
Parliament. In an attempt to benefit the royal treasury, Philip VI
forced the pope to dissolve the Knights Templar in 1312,
allowing him to appropriate the enormous wealth of the Order. Also under Philip IV's
influence, the papal court was moved to Avignon in 1307, beginning the so-called
'Avignonese,' or 'Babylonian,' Captivity.
Philip IV's two eldest sons, Louis X and Philip V, reigned in quick succession until 1322
when his third son, Charles IV (1294-1328), ascended to the throne. Charles IV increased
taxes, debased the coinage, and confiscated numerous noble estates during his reign.
Charles IV's death without a male heir ended the Capetian dynasty in 1328 and set up the
circumstances for the English claim to the French throne that precipitated the Hundred
Years' War.
Philip VI (1293-1350), Philip IV's nephew, was crowned king of France in 1328, founding
the Valois dynasty. Edward III of England initially accepted Philip VI as king but later
revived his own claim to the French throne and embarked upon the Hundred Years' War.
The war did not begin well for the French when the French fleet was destroyed near Sluis
in the Netherlands in 1340. The staggering defeat at Crécy in 1346 and the loss of Calais in
1347 forced Philip VI to agree to a truce with Edward III, which continued until Philip VI's
death in 1350.
Almost all fighting in the Hundred Years' War occurred on French soil, placing a heavy
burden on the French people. Even when pauses in formal hostilities occurred, bands of
plundering mercenaries ravaged the countryside. The Black Death that began to sweep
through France in 1348 followed famines in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. John
II the Good (1319-1364), lacked the ability either to contain the English forces and
marauding mercenaries or to adequately cope with the disease and famine that left his
kingdom discouraged and demoralised. The loss at Poitiers in 1356 was compounded by
the capture of John II by the English.
Although John II's son, the dauphin Charles, was appointed regent during his father's
captivity, the Estates General defied the king and met in Paris under the leadership of
Etienne Marcel, a cloth merchant who had assumed control of the government. They
imposed the Great Ordinance on the dauphin in 1357, granting far-reaching fiscal, judicial,
and administrative powers to the Estates General. Pressed by famine, plague, mercenaries,
and the loss of their traditional feudal protectors, the French peasantry revolted in 1358. A
broad-based expression of frustration and anger, the Jacquerie had no specific goals and
lacked effective leadership. Nevertheless, for two weeks, northern France was terrorised
until the aristocracy ruthlessly crushed the Jacquerie.
The Jacquerie- A Contemporary Account by Jean Froissart
The chaos of the Jacquerie created a resurgence of royalist feeling and support for the
constitutional government was swept away. Etienne Marcel was killed in the summer of
1358, the Great Ordinance was declared null, and the dauphin Charles resumed the regency
until his father's death in 1364, when he took the throne as Charles V. An extremely
competent monarch, Charles V (1337-1380), reversed French fortunes in the Hundred
Years' War. By 1380, the English were forced to temporarily abandon further military
advances and Charles V turned his attention to strengthening his power and expanding the
Crown's revenues.
The tide again turned against France when Charles VI the Mad (1380-1422), succeeded in
1380. A ducal council guided the weak-minded and highly unstable king until 1388 when
he began to rule in his own right. Charles VI's ineffectiveness allowed the rivalry between
the houses of Orléans and Burgundy to burst into open conflict and Henry V of England
took advantage of France's civil unrest to revive hostilities in the Hundred Years' War. The
French loss at Agincourt in 1415 forced Charles VI the Mad to accept Henry V as his heir
under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes, signed in 1420.
When Charles VI and Henry V both died in
1422, the French throne passed to Henry
V's infant son, Henry VI of England.
France acquiesced to an English monarch
until Charles VI's son, in desperation,
accepted the assistance of the visionary,
Joan of Arc. Her astonishing victory at
Orléans allowed Charles to be crowned
Charles VII (1403-1461) at Reims in July
1429. Even though Charles VII abandoned
Joan to Burgundian and English forces in
1430, she had invigorated the French army and the English were eliminated from France.
The last battle of the Hundred Years' War was fought at Castillon on July 17, 1453, the
English having lost all Continental territory except for the port town of Calais. During his
reign, Charles VII worked to consolidate royal authority. He issued the Pragmatic Sanction
of 1438 that reaffirmed the authority of the French king over the income and personnel of
the French Church, ending the dispute that Philip IV had begun more than a century earlier
and ensuring the autonomy of the French clergy from the Roman
papacy.
Louis XI (1423-1483), dubbed the Spider King for his skill at
establishing and manipulating alliances, ascended to the throne
of France in 1461. His methods were not always admirable and
he did not hesitate to use clandestine murder and public
execution to rid himself of opposition. Louis XI confiscated the
Burgundian lands when his major rival, Charles the Bold of
Burgundy, died in 1477, despite a claim by Charles' daughter,
Mary. In 1482, he reached an agreement with Mary's husband,
the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I, to divide Burgundy
between the two kingdoms. Despite Louis XI's ruthlessness, his
support of trade and commerce in search of revenue for the royal
coffers stimulated the entire French economy. His unswerving quest to consolidate his
power provided the foundation for royal absolutism that would become the main feature of
the French monarchy.
Louis XI's son, Charles VIII (1470-1498), succeeded to the throne under a regency until
1491. In 1494, he invaded Italy and briefly occupied Naples in 1495. The Italian states,
normally averse to unified action, joined together and forced Charles VIII from Italy.
French monarchs would continue to strive to recapture Italian lands for the next half
century.
Despite the ravages of famine, plague, and war throughout the fourteenth century, thanks
to a few capable monarchs, France recovered during the fifteenth century. By 1500, France
enjoyed a flourishing economy under a monarchy that ruled through a centralised
government staffed by noble and middle class bureaucrats.
The Iberian Monarchies: Spain and Portugal
Although elements of the Iberian monarchies' development echo
those of France, the prolonged presence of the Moors provided a
unique shape to the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies. In the
eighth century, a Berber Muslim army, the Moors, conquered
much of the Iberian peninsula. A few tiny enclaves of Christian
rule remained in the north of Spain but it was not until the tenth
century that significant advances were made by the Christians to
recapture land from the Moors. By the early thirteenth century,
the Reconquista had forced the Moors from most of the Iberian
peninsula and only a few small areas remained under Moorish
control, including the port of Cádiz and the kingdom of Granada.
The pre-eminent Christian kingdoms at the end of the thirteenth century were Castile and
León, Aragón, and Portugal.
Spain
By the later Middle Ages, Spain was dominated by the kingdoms of Castile and León, and
Aragón, the smaller kingdoms falling into their spheres of influence. Castile and León held
Asturias, Córdoba, Extremurda, Galicia, Jaén, and Seville while Barcelona, Valencia, and
the Balearic Islands fell to Aragón. Although these smaller kingdoms initially retained
their own governments, called the Cortes, they recognised either the monarch of Castile
and León or Aragón as king. Similar in concept to the English Parliament and the French
Estates General, the Cortes were representative assemblies of the aristocracy, the Church
and the common people. As the monarchies grew more powerful, the Cortes evolved from
autonomous institutions into regional representative assemblies.
Throughout most of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, civil unrest prevented the
Spanish monarchies from establishing significant control over the nobility. The Aragónese
monarchy tried to placate the nobility and the townspeople by granting significant
concessions to the Cortes but numerous revolts by the merchant class forced the expansion
of royal powers at the expense of the local Cortes. In Castile, the greatest challenge to
authority came from the nobility.
Castile and León
Ferdinand IV of Castile and León (1286?-1312) intertwined the monarchies of Portugal
and Castile when he and Diniz of Portugal ended the wars between their two kingdoms by
intermarrying their families. Ferdinand IV also succeeded in capturing Gibraltar from the
Moors in 1309 but most of his reign was filled with anarchy and civil unrest. When
Alfonso XI (1310?-1350) came to the throne in 1312, he set out to increase royal authority
by granting privileges to the lower classes at the expense of the aristocracy, which further
increased the discontent of the nobility. He joined with Alfonso IV of Portugal to defeat
the Moors at the Battle of Salado River in 1340.
Alfonso XI was succeeded by his son, Pedro the Cruel (1334-1369), in 1350. His
illegitimate half-brother, Henry of Trastamara, received help from Charles V of France and
Pedro called on Edward III of England, who sent a force under Edward, the Black Prince.
Pedro and his English allies defeated Henry and his French forces in 1367, when the
English had left, Henry returned and defeated Pedro in 1369, assuming the throne as Henry
II of Castile and León (1333?-1379). Henry II continued to honour his French alliance and
his navy was instrumental in the destruction of the English fleet at La Rochelle in 1372.
John I (1358-1390) followed his father Henry II to the throne of Castile and León in 1379.
One of his first actions was to break the long-standing Portuguese-English alliance by
forcing his marriage to Ferdinand I of Portugal's daughter in 1382. When Ferdinand I died
in 1383, John I of Castile claimed the Portuguese throne but he was defeated by John I of
Portugal in 1385. In support of his Portuguese son-in-law, John of Gaunt, the duke of
Lancaster, invaded Castile in 1386. A treaty in 1387 and the marriage of one of John of
Gaunt's daughters to John I of Castile's son, Henry, resolved the dispute.
John I's son Henry (1379-1406) was crowned Henry III of Castile and León following his
father's death in 1390. Inheriting the internal disorder and violence of his father's reign,
Henry III set out to soothe the nobility and to restore royal power. At his death in 1406, the
throne passed smoothly to his young son, John II (1405-1454). The early years of John II's
reign were ably administered by the co-regency of his mother, Catherine, and his uncle,
Ferdinand I the Just of Aragón. When John II took power into his own hands in 1419, he
wisely chose Don Alvaro de Luna as his chief counsellor. The kingdom was well governed
by these two men until de Luna arranged a marriage with a Portuguese princess after the
death of John II's first wife. The new queen resented de Luna's influence and pressed John
II to dispose of him. De Luna was executed in 1453. John II died a few months later.
John II's daughter was the famous Isabella I the Catholic (1451-1504). She married her
cousin Ferdinand of Aragón in 1469 and, when her brother Henry IV of Castile died in
1474, Isabella succeeded to the throne of Castile and León. The powerful Spanish kingdom
was created when Ferdinand V of Aragón ascended to his title in 1479. Isabella I is best
known for sponsoring Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World in 1492.
Aragón
When Henry III of Castile and León died in 1406, his younger brother Ferdinand declined
the Castilian crown, choosing to become coregent for young nephew, John II. His wise and
careful administration distinguished him and, when his uncle died without a male heir,
Ferdinand I the Just (1379?-1416) was chosen to take his place as king of Aragón and
Sicily. His agreement to depose the antipope Benedict XII in 1416 helped to end the Great
Schism.
Alfonso V the Magnanimous (1385-1458) of Aragón and Sicily ascended to the throne
after his father's death in 1416. He helped defend Joanna II of Naples against attacks by
Louis III of Anjou and was named her heir. Even though Joanna II changed her mind in
1423, instead choosing Louis III of Anjou to inherit her title, Alfonso V pressed his claim
when the Neapolitan queen died in 1435. H was defeated and captured by the Genoese
allies of the duke of Anjou and he was sent to Francesco Sforza, the duke of Milan, who
promptly formed an alliance with him. The Angevine forces were finally defeated and
Alfonso V of Aragón and Sicily added the kingdom of Naples to his titles in 1443.
In 1458, John II (1397-1479) followed his brother to the throne of Aragón, Sicily, and
Naples. He married Blanche of Navarre in 1420, inheriting the kingdom of Navarre in
1425. However, the Cortes refused to recognise the claim of John II, preferring his son,
Charles IV of Navarre. John II and Charles IV battled for control until Charles IV's death
in 1461. A series of revolts in Catalonia caused further problems for John II until 1472. At
the end of his reign, John II was embroiled in a war against the French king, Louis XI.
John II's second son Ferdinand (1452-1516)
became king of Sicily in 1468 and king of
Aragón in 1479 as Ferdinand II and, as Ferdinand
III, he ascended to the throne of Naples in 1504.
However, he is best known as Ferdinand V the
Catholic of Spain. It was through the marriage of
Ferdinand of Aragón and Isabella of Castile and
León that Spain was united and peace was finally
established. While Ferdinand and Isabella
remained independent rulers within their
respective realms and the regional Cortes
continued to operate, the royal couple were
united in their overall vision for Spain and a
centralised administration united the two
kingdoms. The Spanish monarchs established a
program of religious orthodoxy across the nation,
forcing Jews and Moslems to choose between
conversion to Christianity and exile. In 1478, in an attempt to root out heresy and
'insincere' converts, the Inquisition began, quickly becoming an instrument of political
manipulation to suppress opposition to the monarchy. By 1492, nearly 200,000 Jews were
expelled from Spain, the Moorish kingdom of Granada was captured, and the nobility had
yielded to Ferdinand and Isabella. With their authority firmly entrenched in Spain,
Ferdinand and Isabella set out to establish their country as a leader in Europe. Ferdinand's
sights were focused on the Mediterranean and on playing a more influential role within
European politics while Isabella's eyes turned towards the horizon and the newly
discovered territory and wealth of the Americas.
Portugal
As in Castile, the nobility was the major source of rebellion in Portugal and the royal
succession was regularly disputed. The continual disputation of succession was
exacerbated by the policy of intermarriage between the royal houses of Portugal and
Castile that was initiated by Diniz of Portugal (1261-1325) and Ferdinand IV of Castile
and León (1286?-1312) to end the wars between their two kingdoms.
During his reign from 1279 to 1325, Diniz of Portugal provided vigorous encouragement
to Portuguese agriculture and commerce, founding schools for the study of agriculture. He
made Portuguese the official language of the law courts and his interest in learning and the
arts prompted him to found a university at Lisbon in 1290 (it was later moved to Coimbra
in 1306). In 1294, he signed a commercial treaty with England and created a royal navy in
1317.
Alfonso IV the Brave (1290-1357), followed his father as king of Portugal in 1357.
Alfonso IV allied with Alfonso XI of Castile and León to defeat the Moors at the Battle of
Salado River in 1340. Although he was a capable administrator, the dynastic murder of his
daughter-in-law blackened Alfonso IV's name and briefly turned his son, Dom Pedro,
against him. The two were soon reconciled and Pedro succeeded his father in 1357 as
Pedro I of Portugal. Pedro I's reign was relatively uneventful and he was followed by his
son, Ferdinand I the Handsome (1345-1383), in 1367.
The numerous intermarriages between Castile and Portugal
provided Ferdinand I with a claim to the Castilian throne and he
made three unsuccessful attempts between 1370 and 1382 to win
the kingship of Castile. When Ferdinand I died without a male heir
in 1383, a civil war erupted over the right to the throne. Finally,
Ferdinand I's illegitimate half-brother, John I (1357-1433), seized
control in 1385.
John I of Portugal reinforced the Portuguese-English alliance by
signing another treaty and marrying one of John of Gaunt's
daughters. A popular monarch, John I reformed his administration
and supported Portuguese culture. The most noteworthy Portuguese
accomplishments of John I's reign resulted from the work of his
third son, Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) who made numerous contributions to
the arts of navigation and shipbuilding.
Following a brief reign by John I's son, Edward, Alfonso V the African (1432-1481)
succeeded to the Portuguese throne under a regency in 1438. In 1448, Alfonso V dissolved
the regency and subdued a 1449 attempt
by his uncle to seize the crown. His wars
against the Moors in north-west Africa
were successful but his 1476 attack on
Castile failed.
John II the Perfect (1455-1495) acted as
regent between 1475 and 1477 when his
father was at war with Castile and became
king following Alfonso V's death in 1381.
John II dealt with a rebellious nobility by
severely limiting their powers.
Portuguese navigators explored the west
coast of Africa during John II's reign and
the importance of Iberian explorations is evidenced in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Signed in
1494, the treaty divided the non-Christian world between Portugal and Spain.
Portugal entered into the sixteenth century during the reign of Emanuel I (1469-1521).
Dubbed the "golden age of Portuguese exploration," Emanuel I's reign began in 1495 and
witnessed the famous expeditions of Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Gaspar CorteReal, and Afonso de Albuquerque. As well, commercial relations with China, Persia, and
India were established and Portugal was poised to reap the benefits of her explorations.
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was faced with many difficulties during the later Middle
Ages. The vast distances between territorial holdings, extreme regional disparities, ethnic
complexities, and the lack of a strong hereditary kingship prevented the consolidation and
centralisation of authority that characterised the New Monarchies of England, France, and
Spain. Internal dissension and longstanding disputes with the papacy and France forced
German kings to choose between maintaining control within their empire and enhancing
the international prestige of the imperial crown.
A political empire imposed across geographic and ethnic boundaries, at the start of the
fourteenth century, the Holy Roman Empire was comprised of present-day Germany and
extended across Prussia, Hungary, Bohemia, Switzerland, and parts of southern and
northern Italy. Literally hundreds of smaller principalities, duchies, and counties composed
the empire. Succession to the imperial title required two steps. First, a candidate was
selected by the German princes and elected king of
Germany. Next, imperial recognition and
coronation had to be granted by the pope. Not
every elected king became emperor and many
German kings did not even seek the imperial title.
In an attempt to eliminate papal interference from
German politics, Louis IV (1287-1347), in
association with German princes, issued the
Declaration of Rense in 1338 that stated that the
emperor would be elected by an electoral college
of German princes and that papal confirmation
was unnecessary. Pope Clement VI (1291-1352)
resented Louis IV's exclusionary tactics and
formally deposed the emperor in 1346, promoting
a former student, Charles of Luxembourg (13161378), in Louis IV's place. The pope's candidate
was not immediately accepted but, following
Louis IV's death in 1347, Charles ascended to the
throne as Charles IV.
Charles IV's strong ties with Bohemia led him to focus on that country but he also sought
to regularize laws and governmental practices throughout the empire. In 1356, he issued
the "Golden Bull" which was a key step towards standardizing electoral procedures. The
Bull clearly set out the seven officials who were in the college of electors. The seven
electors included three princes of the Church - the archbishops of Mainz, Triers, and
Cologne - and four lay princes - the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of Rhine, the
Margrave of Brandenburg, and the Duke of Saxony. The lay offices eventually acquired
'quasi-sovereign' powers including judicial independence, the right to mint money, the
right to collect tolls, and various mining privileges. In effect, the electorates became
autonomous and established a paradigm of power that non-electoral princes also claimed.
Meanwhile, Charles IV concerned himself with acquiring lands and securing the imperial
title for his family. He had the Electorate designate his son, Wenzeslaus (1361-1419), as
his successor before his death in 1378. Wenzeslaus was better known as a lover of wine
than an effective ruler and spent his entire reign in Bohemia. The rest of the kingdom
resented his incompetence and neglect. In 1400, the Electors deposed
Wenzeslaus and elevated Rupert of the Palatinate to the throne.
The validity of Rupert's claim was disputed from the start and another
election in 1411 selected another of Charles IV's sons. Unfortunately,
Sigismund (1368-1437) was another weak king. Although he was unable
to protect his empire's frontiers from Turkish invaders or to deal with
religious dissension from the Hussites within his kingdom, Sigismund
was instrumental in resolving the Great Schism in 1414 at the Council of
Constance. When Sigismund failed to produce a male heir, he arranged a
marriage between his daughter and a Habsburg prince, Albert (13971439). As Albert II, he was recognized as Holy Roman Emperor but his
one-year reign was too brief to allow him to be formally crowned.
In 1440, the Electors chose another Habsburg, Frederick III (1415-1493),
who was the last emperor to be crowned at Rome by the pope. During a long
and relatively uneventful reign, Frederick III established a dynastic policy
that was aimed at creating a network of marriage alliances across Europe.
His tactics are best expressed in his own words: "Let others lead wars; you,
happy Austria, marry!" Although Frederick III was not particularly
competent as a ruler, his marriage strategy proved successful. The Habsburgs
were soon allied with most of Europe's ruling houses and the imperial title of
Holy Roman Emperor became a dynastic title rather than an elected one. The
imperial office would remain with the Habsburgs until its abolition in 1806
even though the male line died out in 1740.
The last emperor of the late Middle Ages was Maximilian I of
Habsburg (1459-1519) who expanded the Holy Roman Empire and
firmly established the Habsburg dynasty as a European power. He
successfully defended both his territories in northern Italy and his
wife's Burgundian lands against French incursions. Maximilian I
applied his father's marriage strategies to good effect, bringing the
kingdoms of Aragón and Castile into the Habsburg hegemony when
he married his son Philip to Joanna the Mad of Spain.
Despite two centuries of relatively ineffective rulers, the Holy Roman Empire had been
able to re-establish some degree of international political power by the end of the late
Middle Ages. However, it had failed both to secure political unity amongst its many tiny
principalities or to establish a strong centralized government, such as those in England,
France, and Spain.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/FRAMES/monaframe.html